During these times of global financial uncertainty, some investment strategies that had been out of favor during the boom years are now making a re-appearance. One investment opportunity that has been around for years, but are now becoming highly profitable investments are government tax liens.
Simply, a tax lien is a claim against a house for unpaid local property taxes. The governing authority that is seeking payment of outstanding taxes places a lien on the property. This lien remains until the owner of the property pays their tax obligation. The lien ensures that the property cannot be transferred to anyone else unless the outstanding taxes are paid.
Tax Lien Certificates are sold by the governing authority at tax property auctions. This is where you, the investor, can make a great return. If you purchase one of these Liens the property owner must pay you the tax debt. They cannot sell the property and are in debt to you. If after a certain period of time (depending on the municipality of the property) the property owner has not paid you back, then the property passes to you.
Investing in a property that is under government lien tax foreclosure is profitable, because you can get it cheap and sell it later at a good price and make a good profit from it. This kind of investment is often seen as safe as the homeowner may pay up the value of the tax lien or lose the title to the property to the investor holding the lien papers. The downside is that it is possible that other creditors are owed money by the property owner, and if they declare bankruptcy, these creditors may have a prior claim to yours.
If you would like to invest in a government tax lien certificate, it is important that you have the correct information to understand what your investment is. With a bit of focused work on your part, you could make excellent returns on your investment. If the property associated with the lien certificate has good underlying value and is in good condition then it will be worthwhile investing in it.
You have to be confident that this tax foreclosure property is currently in a excellent state of repair to retain it’s value. It’s a positive outcome and a simple investment if the property owner pays his outstanding taxes to you as the owner of the lien. If the property owner cannot pay his outstanding taxes to you and you find that the property requires significant repairs, you could lose money. To avoid this outcome, you must see the property and be confident that it is a good investment before purchasing a lien certificate.
Tax foreclosure sales are cash only transactions at tax property auctions, so if you want to be successful and fast moving, you’ll need to have liquid cash funds available to you. If you have other ways of producing the cash, you only have 1 – 3 days to settle the deal.
Be aware of the risk that the property owner may file for Bankruptcy. If your end game was to secure the title of the house then this may be jeopardized as the judge may only compensate you with the value of the government tax lien certificate only.
The upside of county tax lien investments [http://taxforeclosures.lifeandmoneyonline.com/county-tax-lien.php] is the significant return that can be made. Tax liens are reasonably scarce so if you pick up a good one it can be considered a very valuable investment. You need to be able to demonstrate a good profit in the first place before taking the plunge into properties that are under tax foreclosure.
Make sure that you have all of the information you require and a carefully considered investment blueprint that will allow you to succeed in a government lien tax business. Remember that with any investment comes risk, and the larger the potential profits, the larger the potential losses if the strategy has not been considered fully.
Good luck with your future investing.